For the last four Christmas’, with the help of friends and family, my husband and I have adopted all nearly 50 residents at the assisted living facility (ALF) that my Mom called home prior to her passing in June.

Most of the residents are living on a fixed income, some are Veterans, many don’t have local family and they are unable to get out much, they are a wonderful bunch of folks who deserve to be spoiled at the holidays!

Our goal is to buy a minimum of three items off each residents personal wish list, many of which are simple things that most of us take for granted like new pajamas and body wash, bedding and comfortable footwear, and all sorts of snacks! We also provide items for the community activity room like crafts and games and of course more snacks to stash away for rainy days.

We will host a holiday extravaganza on December 18th, including a pizza party, complete with a visit from Santa and musical entertainment.

Any funds raised will go toward providing these things, please consider helping out, every bit helps make their holidays better! The response from the residents in the past has been amazing, many saying they haven’t gotten presents since they were a kid, it really has been wonderful to be able to bring some Christmas joy to otherwise warm and sunny Bradenton, Florida.

A few things they have asked for in previous year include, hear aid batteries, watermelon and other fresh fruit, Outback gift certificates, and a lobster roll. We have bought loads of slippers and Sketchers slip ons, lottery tickets-no winners yet, clothes, electric razors, gospel cds, Breyer horses, even a red corvette convertible, that believe it or not, we showed up with, though it was likely much smaller than he had expected.

Wonder what motivates me to fill my house with chaos and packages for two months, to organize and wrap around 200 gifts a year? After doing this for several years, I realize that for many of the people we have blessed with gifts, that it was their last holiday, the last opportunity for “Santa” to visit them and knowing that we made it a little more special is what made me want to continue, even now, months after my mothers passing.

This year we do it in honor of her, thank you for any help you can offer.

❤️❤️❤️UPDATE!!! As if adopting all 46 residents at the facility wasn’t crazy enough, we have decided to include all of the folks at the adjacent long term care and rehabilitation facility. So it looks more like we are adopting about 140 folks for the holidays, though we don’t have exact numbers as yet. I didn’t realize there were so many when I suggested it, lol.

Prior to my mom passing she was on the rehab side for a few months, and it was clear they could use a bit of extra love over there as well. With some people coming directly from the hospital sometimes without clothes etc, it will definitely help them a great deal to be able to get some of their basic needs met.

You can also checkout the Amazon registry by searching the registries under ELF THE ALF

Thanks again for all of the help!! Everyone is very excited about the party!!